It was the winter of 1997, a day that would change the course of Leatrice Woody's life forever. A salon owner, she says a client was gunned down right in front of her.
“I was a law abiding citizen, I had a business and you come in my business and you kill my client?” she said exasperated. It was a tragedy and trauma that took her on a path to become a Chicago police officer.
“I was devastated." she recalled. "I was supposed to protect my clients. I thought the world had ended for me. I usually make sure the door is locked. I beat myself up about that to this day. They never caught the guy. That’s why I decided to become a police officer." she said, shaking her head.
In 2020, after the George Floyd murder and the social unrest that followed in Chicago, she made a life changing decision.
“I was in the community patrolling District 15 for years but things were slowly changing. What ever happened to ‘Officer Friendly” and the neighborhood support? I noticed a change in the way we as police officers were perceived, were treated. When I started, it was a different time.” She said.
“All the civil unrest, they were throwing things at us, bottles with pee and bricks,” she recalled.
“The day I decided to retire was the day they shot out our windows at the police station. They shot up the windows. How did we get here?”
Woody would retire after 21 years at District 15.
She realized the relationship between police officers in the community was just not the same.
“I was heartbroken that we didn’t love each other anymore. People would say “we hate the police” everything I went to a scene. I didn’t like it. They are banging on your cars screaming ‘Black Lives Matter, I hate the Police”. How come every crime scene I go on is black on black crime? What’s happening here?
Woody knew she wanted to do something about it. That's how the Not Without Love Foundation was born.
“What can we do to assist, to hold back this chaos, to hold back the darkness, how can we assist the officers? That’s when I knew it was my new mission.”
Established in 2023, the foundation is committed to fostering mutual understanding, respect and collaboration. Woody says it offers resources, including coaching, leadership development, emotional intelligence training, and mental health support.
The Foundation offers role playing, how to handle traffic stops, and offers mental health resources for police officers.
“Our officers are really having a tough time, mentally, spiritually and a lot of them think the community doesn’t want them there. You having problems on the street, in the station, people are hurting and they don’t have any outlet in many cases.”
Woody says it's about community outreach with both young people and officers and she uses her own experience on the streets to bridge the gap.
“I even wrote a book with tips. It’s a birds eye view of how I patrolled the street. How to serve a community that hates me, snitches don’t get stitches, they get pensions, that kind of thing,”
She calls them the 7 tasks to check off-A blueprint for change.
Not without Love holds events at local coffee shops, schools, churches, recreation centers, roll calls and even has an annual "Love A Cop Day".
“I go to the station and bring food and feed them, I want them to know how much they are appreciated and loved.”
Woody says she feels a difference but there's still a long way to go.
“I'm the voice behind the movement, but I also lived it. I find the young people I talk to change their attitudes after they talk to me or take my courses. My former fellow officers love it too. They appreciate the community outreach. We’re building the relationships back, the trust back.” She smiled.
For more information about how to get involved or to schedule an event,
click link here. Her book "Not Without Love: 7 Tasks to Check Off" is available on Amazon.
